Winning Isn't Everything
by PolarisAmane
Summary: It wasn't about winning, it shouldn't have been about winning, it should just be about the moment - but then why try so hard?
1. Chapter 1

**Genre – Humour/Romance (apparently)**

**Rating – K+/T Somewhere in between I guess.**

**A/N – This is actually a sequel of sorts to **_**Breathless;**_** hence why you have one-armed Sui (or full blown war-wounded Sui), and also a vague reference to cat collars. I doubt you need to read **_**Breathless **_**in order to understand this; hopefully it works on its own.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own Bleach, but if I did then you can bet that we would have had a panel showing what the fudge happened to Hinamori. Did Hitsugaya drop her?**

**EDIT – I've changed the spelling of Soi Fon's name to the now confirmed correct spelling of Sui-Feng. I prefer this spelling and I don't care if **_**you **_**don't.**

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Winning Isn't Everything

The snow had lessened during the night. Now large flakes floated lazily down from the grey clouds above. Snow like this was unusual in Soul Society, and Sui-Feng could not remember the last time she had seen it like this. It had started just over a week ago, at first it was a light scattering that was expected with the winter months, but then it had progressed steadily until it was a full blown blizzard. The whole of Seireitei was now buried beneath several feet of snow.

She wasn't entirely sure she liked the snow. Sure it made everything seem cleaner blanketed in thick pure white and hiding the grime beneath, but it was also an annoyance she could easily do without. She had been forced to cancel several missions, a number of her men had fallen ill due to exposure to the cold and she had also had to alter her training exercises for her division. Pretty scenery did not make up for disturbing her schedule.

The snow had also inspired within Seireitei what Sui-Feng could only feel was madness. Several divisions had taken the freak weather as an excuse to slack off, paying no heed to their duties and training. Instead they could be found playing – _playing! _– In the snow. Only yesterday she heard that a huge snowball fight had taken place between the Eighth and Ninth divisions. To make it worse, Kyoraku-Taicho had approved and then supervised the whole thing. No doubt afterwards he would have got drunk on sweet Plum wine – her reports told her that it was now his tipple of choice – and found some harlot to keep his bed warm too.

The sheer lack of responsibility her fellow captains were showing was maddening. A little bit of snow did not excuse them from their duties. She knew this, and she'd made damn well sure her own division knew this too. So far only one of her men had made an attempt to play in the snow. He had made a snowman from two massive mounds of snow, it had stood at nearly twenty feet by the time he had finished and was – even she had silently admitted – very impressive. Impressive did not excuse the fact that the act had been a gross waste of his time, the divisions time and more importantly her time. As punishment she had made him stand next to it wearing only his bare essentials all night. The toe he lost to frost bite would only serve as a reminder that frivolities would not be tolerated.

She trudged through the snow, enjoying the way it crunched beneath her feet. If she wanted to she could walk on top of it without disturbing it, leaving no footprints at all. She had earlier on demonstrated the technique to her men and set them about practising it. She had been dismayed how few could do it proficiently. She didn't see any reason why they should find it so difficult; it was just like walking on air or on water, there were only minor differences involved between the three techniques. No matter, while the snow persisted they could keep on training and perfecting the technique.

Casting her eye about her surroundings she gave an approving nod. She was in the middle of training right now; her men were hidden among the snow attempting to stay concealed. She could sense them easily enough, but that was to be expected – there were very few Shinigami that could hide their reiatsu from her. Certainly no one within her squad could do it. The important thing here was that they were hidden from the second unit which were supposed to be tracking them. She could sense them too; they were miles away and heading in the complete wrong direction. She refrained from showing her annoyance. They were only trainees, fresh out of the academy, and allowances had to be made.

Truthfully, she shouldn't even have been over seeing her training; it should have been left to one of her officers, but a few of the newest recruits showed promise, could possibly manifest their own Zanpakutos and learn their names. This meant that it was well worth her time to check them out.

The barest hint of a smile flickered briefly up her face and she turned from the clearing, leaving the group submerged in the drifts. She stepped up onto the snow and continued walking, leaving no footprints behind and keeping her reiatsu masked, more from habit than anything else. A moment later she sensed a familiar reiatsu that made her stop and turn.

"Yoruichi-Sama," She said, her smile returning. She knew that her men would be able to see them, so she sketched a quick, respectful, bow to the head of the Shihouin clan. It was better to set a good example with manners than to look impertinent in front of a superior. Besides, Yoruichi would no doubt find the act infuriating and Sui-Feng was starting to find an odd enjoyment in pushing the Goddess's buttons.

Yoruichi was leaning against a tree, dressed in her usual orange jacket and form fitting black pants; she made Sui-Feng feel cold. The white scarf wrapped round her neck was the only thing that gave away that the winter elements might actually be affecting her.

"Sui-Feng-Taicho," Yoruichi replied. "Or would you prefer _Gundanchou_?"

Sui-Feng cringed. It still felt strange having Yoruichi call her by her titles.

"I have to admit I'm a little surprised," Yoruichi continued, clearly ignoring Sui-Feng's brief discomfort. "Ukitake has his Division making snowmen, Ninth are preparing to blitz Third in a surprise snowball fight, Eleventh are running round in their skivvies for reasons that are lost on me and even Sixth are using the weather as an excuse for recreational time," She paused, her head tilting to the side. "Every other division is having fun, yours is the only one training. Don't you like the snow?"

"Poor weather conditions are not an excuse for shirking," Sui-Feng explained. "We rarely see weather like this in Soul Society; it would be lax of me to pass up the opportunity to train under these conditions."

Yoruichi actually smiled at that. Despite her teasing, Sui-Feng knew that she agreed and had she still been in charge she would have done the exact same thing. She pushed herself from the tree she was leaning against and walked towards Sui-Feng, leaving no tracks behind her in the snow.

"You love the snow really," She said once she had closed the distance between them. "You love that I can't stand it."

"On the contrary, Yoruichi-Sama, I would never profess my love for something which I know causes you discomfort. My will is, as always, in accordance with your own and all my opinions reflect that."

"Wow, and you said that with a straight face, huh?" Yoruichi smirked at her, hands going to her hips.

"I dislike the snow because it only encourages infantile behaviour," Sui-Feng explained. "The weather does not excuse us from our duties."

"Aren't you cold?" Yoruichi questioned.

"Not at all," Sui-Feng lied. Truthfully, she had lost feeling in her toes. She was dressed in her standard _Shihakushō_, though her _kosode_ was made from a thicker material than normal in an effort to fend off the elements. It wasn't proving to be all that helpful.

"If you say so," Yoruichi didn't sound convinced at all.

"Aren't you cold?" Sui-Feng asked. She knew that Yoruichi's outfit was made from a light, but durable, material and probably offered little to no warmth.

"Nope!" Yoruichi answered with a grin, and she plucked at her scarf. "This is all I need to stay warm. Actually I brought you one too."

Sui-Feng watched as Yoruichi opened up her jacket; underneath she was wearing her usual black top but she also had a second white scarf wrapped around her mid-section. She took a moment unwinding it, grinning all the while. And then, once she had managed to extricate it, she held it out triumphantly for Sui-Feng's inspection.

Sui-Feng was a little unsure what to say. Without waiting for permission, Yoruichi hooped the scarf over Sui-Feng's head and flicked one end over her shoulder. Sui-Feng let her fingers run over the soft material, rubbing it between her thumb and middle finger. It was warm, she noticed. It also smelt like Yoruichi and she had to resist the urge to bury her face in it and inhale.

"Do you like it?" Yoruichi inquired.

"Uh, yes, of course," Sui-Feng replied.

"It's made from a special material that absorbs a small amount of your reiatsu," Yoruichi explained, her hands occupied with refastening her jacket. "It generates heat that will spread evenly throughout your body. Wearing this you don't need to worry about bundling yourself up in thermals or whatever."

"Oh," Was all Sui-Feng could say. Her mind though was already trying to work out ways in which the material could be utilized for her squad. It was too thick to be used as a face mask, but if there was a way to make it thinner, more adaptable, then she could equip her men with it for any missions that involved sub-zero temperatures. The main problem was figuring out if the cloth made your reiatsu pronounced – it would be useless if it inhibited them form masking their reiatsu.

"Thank you," Sui-Feng inclined her head slightly, partly in an appreciative bow but also to hide the faint blush that she just knew was creeping up her neck and towards her cheeks. "Where did you get it from?"

"Kisuke made it."

Whatever love for the miraculous scarf Sui-Feng had harboured quickly evaporated upon hearing that it was another invention of _that _man. She was suddenly torn; on the one hand the scarf was a present from Yoruichi and she should cherish it, on the other she wanted to fling it to the ground and stamp on it.

"I see," Sui-Feng said instead, her voice carefully neutral.

"Oh, don't look like that," Yoruichi waved her hand dismissively. "So long as it works, does it really matter who made it?"

"I guess not," Except that it did, and Sui-Feng found herself hating Urahara that little bit more for tarnishing a present from Yoruichi. On the bright side, she no longer had an urge to rub her face into the scarf – despite the lingering scent of Yoruichi.

Yoruichi, never one of respecting personal boundaries, reached out and tugged on the empty left sleeve of Sui-Feng's _kosode. _

"I thought you had them all altered so that the sleeve was cut off and sewn shut," She said, her hand moving to the tight knot that Sui-Feng had tied in the sleeve. She shrugged and dropped her hand from the sleeve, as though it was suddenly unimportant. "Are you busy?"

"Not especially," Sui-Feng replied. She resisted the urge to adjust her sleeve where Yoruichi had touched it. It wasn't even as though Yoruichi had done anything to it, but it was now at the forefront of Sui-Feng's mind and she wanted to run her fingers along the material where Yoruichi's fingers had been.

Yoruichi smiled and didn't say anything. Her eyes gazed off into the distance. She didn't ask but then she didn't have to; Sui-Feng knew that she was requesting to spend some time with her. It was fortunate that Sui-Feng truthfully wasn't busy, even if she had been occupied with something important she would still have indulged Yoruichi.

Although she would never voice the thought, Sui-Feng suspected that Yoruichi was bored. Ever since she had returned to living within Seireitei and had resumed her duties as head of her family, Yoruichi appeared to have large amount of free time on her hands. Sui-Feng had been surprised when Yoruichi had refused a position within the Gotei 13 and even more surprised by how grateful she had felt by this. She had secretly worried that Yoruichi would reclaim her role as taicho of the Second division and _Gundanchou _of the _Onmitsukidō, _especiallyshe knew that the Shihouin clan would have liked her to do just that.

"One moment, Yoruichi-Sama," Sui-Feng walked back to the clearing where she had left the unit of men buried in the snow. "There has been an alteration to your mission," she called out. They didn't reply or even make any show of acknowledging her presence. "You are now the hunters. Your mission is to locate unit A and capture them. Their last known whereabouts was north-north west of the nineteenth Rukon district."

In a single synchronised movement, the unit all emerged from the snow dressed from head to toe in a white variation of their standard uniform. Sui-Feng could sense Yoruichi behind her, observing the group as they left as one without even acknowledging Sui-Feng's command. Their shunpo's were painfully slow to Sui-Feng's eyes and she clenched her jaw as she made a mental note to assign someone to instruct them properly in shunpo.

"Unit A's going to be in for a surprise," Yoruichi commented. "They'll not be expecting the unit they're been searching for to attack them."

"Then this will be an excellent lesson for them," Sui-Feng said. "And also for Unit B, since there is a third unit that neither A nor B know about and it is led by a seated officer. Its mission is to neutralise both unit A and B."

Yoruichi laughed. "That's a harsh lesson."

"Hopefully they will have the sense to learn from it," Sui-Feng said, turning round to face Yoruichi. "Now then, what can I do for you Yoruichi-Sama?"

Yoruichi opened her mouth to reply, but then it shut it and bowed her head slightly. The way she was pressing her mouth closed and the pinched expression she wore suggested she was trying very hard not to smirk.

Sui-Feng found herself giving her former teacher a flat stare.

"You really shouldn't ask me things like that," Yoruichi said finally, failing to keep the smirk from her face. "You just give me ideas."

There was a temptation for Sui-Feng to ask Yoruichi about these _ideas. _She didn't though, as joyfully naive as she could be Sui-Feng knew exactly what Yoruichi had been thinking. And now that the idea had been implemented into Sui-Feng's own mind she found herself with a whole host of mental images that made her cheeks heat up.

They had lapsed into silence. Yoruichi was still smirking at her, a predatory gleam in her golden eyes. It didn't help matters that the last time they had spoken had been after the whole collar thing. Sui-Feng could still see in her mind the cat collar around Yoruichi's neck – she had kept it on even after returning to her true form – a little too tight and pressing into her soft skin. She could see the small golden bell lying against the hollow of Yoruichi's throat, the light perspiration that lingered on her skin as it bounced and rolled, jingling, with each jerked movement.

Honestly she didn't think she'd ever be able to hear the soft tinkling of a small, flimsy bell without becoming slightly aroused. It was embarrassing.

She coughed into her hand in an effort to hide her discomfort. She knew – she just _knew_ – that she was blushing furiously. Yoruichi was still smirking at her, and the silence was stretching on and on. Sui-Feng turned back to Yoruichi fully prepared to break the silence, only to be pre-empted by Yoruichi jabbing her in her right shoulder – her bad shoulder that still occasionally ached – fairly hard.

"Tag. You're it."

"Huh?" Sui-Feng blurted, but it was too late. Yoruichi had already disappeared in a burst of shunpo so fast that she hadn't even unsettled the snow. Sui-Feng swore loudly and kicked at the ground before setting off after the Goddess with her own shunpo.

It wasn't as though Yoruichi's actions were unexpected. She clearly hadn't approached Sui-Feng to talk, and thankfully not for other slightly more libidinous reasons, so really playing was the only other option. And Sui-Feng was more than happy to join in with Yoruichi's occasionally childish antics – though if anyone asked then she detested such frivolities and a grown woman should be ashamed of herself for indulging in them.

Compliments of her head start, Yoruichi was literally miles ahead. Sui-Feng could sense at least five different streams of her reiatsu which meant that Yoruichi had sent copies of herself out in different directions in an attempt to confuse Sui-Feng. Usually the way to distinguish the real target from the decoys was to by their spiritual pressure. Depending on the level of control by the user, the decoys would have a lower presence of reiatsu compared to the 'original'. Unfortunately Yoruichi's control of her reiatsu was damn near perfect, and Sui-Feng was unable to tell if there was any difference between the real Yoruichi and the four clones.

"Tch!" She picked one at random and sped towards it, closing the gap at an alarming rate. That really should have told her that it wasn't the real Yoruichi. And sure enough, as she reached out for the figure before her it shimmered and disappeared, her fingers grasping only air.

"Ha ha!" Yoruichi's jubilant voice rang. "You'll have to do better than that!"

Sui-Feng gritted her teeth in frustration. Yoruichi's voice had come from her left, somewhere, but Sui-Feng knew better than to follow it. By now Yoruichi was probably miles away in the opposite direction.

A simple and effective, though ultimately boring, tactic would be to chase down the clones one by one. Yoruichi could simply create more, but Sui-Feng knew from experience that she could simply outlast Yoruichi. While the Goddess was indeed faster, Sui-Feng's stamina was higher and Yoruichi would exhaust before Sui-Feng even broke a sweat.

Slight exaggeration, Sui-Feng conceded, but a welcome ego stroke nonetheless.

She discarded the idea. Yoruichi would grow bored long before she tired and simply abandon the game, and if she did that then Sui-Feng would have failed. Sui-Feng had to find a way to catch Yoruichi without relying on speed (it was nearly useless against the Goddess of Flash) and on her own stamina. This left her with her wits, a disturbing and no doubt hopeless option that left her feeling slightly morose.

Really, she should have sent out clones of her own. Yoruichi would be able to sense her approaching from miles away. And then a new plan began to form in Sui-Feng's mind.

She dropped out of her shunpo mid-step, landing lightly on a thin tree branch. Her hand moved to the scarf wrapped around her neck and she fingered it lightly.

'_It's made from a special material that absorbs a small amount of your reiatsu'_

Sui-Feng smiled as she gripped the scarf. She could sense that Yoruichi and her three clones were all around her, she was practically surrounded. They weren't in sight though, which suited her purpose perfectly. She focused on the scarf, imbuing her spiritual energy into it – she wasn't surprised when it soaked up her reiatsu like a sponge. It had gone from being warm to hot, and she kept filling it till it progressed to near boiling. Satisfied, and also starting to feel her neck burn, she pulled it off and hooked it over the branch she was standing on.

She could sense Yoruichi approaching form two completely different places and decided that they were probably clones sent to distract her. Masking her own spiritual pressure, Sui-Feng used good old fashioned muscles to propel herself away from the scarf.

"Have you given up already?" Yoruichi's voice called out.

_Not a chance,_ Sui-Feng grinned to herself. She waited and watched from a safe distance. She knew that eventually Yoruichi would come back to check on her, the scarf was emitting a perfect copy of Sui-Feng's unique spiritual pressure, and Yoruichi would be curious as to why she remained stationary.

Timing was crucial here and Sui-Feng found herself tensing and crouching slightly as she waited. Sure enough, Yoruichi flashed into view, landing on the branch where the over-powered scarf was draped. Sui-Feng quivered in anticipation as she watched confusion flicker over Yoruichi's features.

_Now!_

Sui-Feng flashed away from Yoruichi, circling round her left; and she sent a copy of herself imbued with reiatsu directly at her. Yoruichi noticed the clone and used her own shunpo to avoid it, her laughter echoing through the woods.

"Close, Sui-Feng!" She bellowed clearly not realising that it was a clone she had evaded. Her shunpo took her unswervingly into Sui-Feng's path.

_Close enough! _Sui-Feng concluded, her second step hurtling her right into Yoruichi's side. She knocked Yoruichi from the air mid-step and both of them tumbled to the ground. Years of training and their own natural sense of balance kept them on their feet. They skidded, spinning a full five hundred and forty degrees and cutting circular trenches through the snow with their feet, as they came to a stop.

Sui-Feng's arm was encircled around Yoruichi's waist and she held her close into her body. They were both breathing heavily, which seemed absurd given that they had hardly exerted themselves in the least. Sui-Feng tightened her hold on Yoruichi, drawing her closer into the curve of her body, half-afraid that this was another clone and she would disappear.

She could feel her warmth though and nearly sighed in relief at the feel of it.

Yoruichi tensed up and she looked back over her shoulder at Sui-Feng, her golden eyes wide in surprise.

"You caught me," She uttered in obvious disbelief.

Sui-Feng nodded unable to speak. For some reason she was still holding onto Yoruichi.

A small bubble of elation was forming in Sui-Feng's stomach and she had a sudden urge to laugh. She'd won, she realised, she actually beaten Yoruichi at something. And she had done it fairly too, on even grounds, and at one of Yoruichi's favourite games nonetheless.

Yoruichi removed Sui-Feng's arm from around her waist and then stepped away from her former protégé. She rubbed at the back of her head an odd, unreadable, expression on her face.

"Yoruichi-Sama?" Sui-Feng said her happiness turning into concern. "Is something the matter?"

"No," Yoruichi answered quickly. She smiled but it looked strained. "Nothing's the matter. Congratulations." And then she laughed, but it was a little bit too high, too loud and so unlike her actual laugh that Sui-Feng stepped back from her.

Sui-Feng frowned. "Are you sure you're-"

"I'm fine!" Yoruichi waved dismissively. "You did really well. And I bet it feels good to actually beat me. Not that I didn't think that you were capable of beating me, just that..." She trailed off, her strained smile still in place. "Yeah. Well done, I'm, uh, proud of you."

A heavy awkward silence descended between them. Yoruichi looked distinctly uncomfortable, and after hearing her words, Sui-Feng felt uncomfortable. Yoruichi didn't sound very proud of her, she didn't even sound remotely pleased. And now that the forced smile had dropped from her features she looked somewhere between annoyed and upset. Her reaction left Sui-Feng feeling as though she had somehow erred, though she was confused as to what exactly she had done wrong.

"Right then," Yoruichi's voice cut through the tense silence. "I'm sure that you're very busy, so I'll just leave you to it. This was... fun."

And, just like that, she was gone. Sui-Feng stared at the spot where Yoruichi had been moments before wondering what the hell had just happened.

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**Fuckin' bi-shots! This is why I dislike writing one-shots, because my mind runs rampant and then I have to extend them! This might actually be longer than a bi-shot (tri-shot? Weird.) I'm not too sure yet. I have a few ideas of where to take this; it'll be fun to play with on the side.**

**As if you couldn't guess from my nonsensical ramble there will be a second (possibly third) part to this. I've been drinking, and steering the keyboard is becoming increasingly difficult.**

**Reviews are very welcome ^^**

**Time for another drink.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so this took a while to update, my bad I guess. Mahoosive thanks to siyentista for beta-ing this for me, if there are any errors towards the end of the fic then that's my fault not hers. Also, you should go check out her fics, they're pretty damn good.**

**In case you skipped the first chapter, I have changed the spelling of Soi Fon to Sui-Feng. According to the official character book 2, **_**Mask**_**, Sui-Feng is the official Romanization of her name. This suits me just fine since I've always preferred Sui-Feng.**

**On with the story. And I guess this one goes out to SoldierG65434-2, he's been waiting quite some time for this.**

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_It was dusk. The air was cool and a welcome change to the stifling heat that had permeated the day. Sui-Feng stood perfectly still and perfectly composed, unwavering in her patience. With her head tilted back she looked up at the darkening sky, the first few stars were just starting emerge. The birds had finished their evening chorus and now she could hear crickets and other insects chirruping around her._

"_You'll give yourself neck cramp if you stay like that."_

_Sui-Feng jumped and swivelled round. Yoruichi-Sama had appeared in the clearing, silent and instantaneous. Sui-Feng hadn't even sensed the slightest ripple in the air that might have alerted her. It was to be expected, Yoruichi-Sama was the embodiment of stealth and there was no shinigami that could detect her. Sui-Feng doubted that even the Soutaicho himself would be able to sense Yoruichi-Sama approach._

"_Yoruichi-Sama!" Sui-Feng greeted enthusiastically with a low bow. She quickly found herself being jerked from her bow by the neck of her uniform, emitting a shameful: "urk!" as the cloth constricted her windpipe. Yoruichi-Sama was standing next to her, practically holding her up by her collar._

"_Less of that," She said, her tone was firm but there was no rebuke in it. _

_She wasn't wearing her haori. Sui-Feng had noticed that Yoruichi-Sama only wore it when on official business; she preferred to wear the brightly coloured jacket, which on anyone else would have been the antithesis of stealth and something to be abhorred, on Yoruichi-Sama it was a dare, a slap in the face to all those who couldn't sense her - and that was everyone. The orange jacket only served to emphasise the Goddess's skill._

"_My apologies," Sui-Feng said quickly, respectfully._

"_That too," Now she was smiling and she released her hold on Sui-Feng's collar. "You won't need your zanpakuto tonight, so just leave her over there." Yoruichi-Sama gestured to one of the trees that surrounded them._

_Sui-Feng nodded and complied. Dashing to the trees she unhooked Suzumebachi from her back and placed her down safely, leaning her against the tree trunk. Turning, she hurried back to stand before Yoruichi-Sama. Yoruichi-Sama wasn't carrying her own zanpakuto, which wasn't unusual; she rarely seemed to have it with her._

"_Right then," Yoruichi-Sama produced a yellow sash from the inside of her jacket. "We're going to play a little game tonight."_

_Sui-Feng watched as Yoruichi-Sama turned so that her back was to her. She tucked the sash into the wrap that held her uniform together so that it hung down her rear and legs like a colourful tail._

"_The rules are fairly simple; you are to steal the sash from me," She explained, flicking the sash out with one hand to emphasise it. "Use whatever means you feel are necessary: kido, shunpo – whatever. I will not use kido and I will only use shunpo if you do."_

_Sui-Feng nodded in understanding her eyes locked on the sash._

"_Any questions?"_

"_No Yoruichi-Sama," Sui-Feng replied. "I understand."_

"_Excellent, then let's begin," Yoruichi-Sama turned back to face her pupil and took up her stance. It was different to her usual fighting stance; she turned so that she was sideways on, her left foot pointed towards Sui-Feng and her right foot was a step behind her left and pointed in the direction that Yoruichi-Sama's body was turned. She held her right arm behind her back, her left out towards Sui-Feng with the elbow bent slightly and her hand palm up, fingers rigid. Her arm was pointed like a spear directly at Sui-Feng's heart._

_Caution_, _Sui-Feng's mind counselled, this had to be a trap. She didn't know that stance and therefore didn't know the style Yoruichi was going to fight in, which meant that she didn't know how to counter it. She assumed that it would be a defensive style and that would make sense given the nature of the game, but then why had she placed one arm behind her back?_

"_What are you waiting for, Sui-Feng?" Yoruichi demanded. "If this was a real fight you'd be dead already."_

_Sui-Feng opened her mouth to reply but only managed to emit a shocked, muffled cry as Yoruichi-Sama's body engulfed her field of vision. She could feel Yoruichi-Sama's hand flat against her chest, firm and unforgiving and –_

_Sui-Feng jumped back quickly and took up her stance again. Her heart was racing and her breaths were coming thick and fast._

She said she wouldn't use shunpo, _Sui-Feng's mind raced. _Yoruichi-Sama wouldn't lie, would she?_ It was then that Sui-Feng realised that Yoruichi-Sama hadn't used shunpo, she had closed the distance between them almost instantly with her own muscle driven speed. She was actually that fast._

_Nodding once, Sui-Feng wasted no more time and dashed forward, striking out at her senpai with a flurry of quick and accurate blows. Each one was blocked by Yoruichi-Sama, her left arm meeting each blow efficiently and knocking them harmlessly away. Sui-Feng kept up her pace, she was slowly pushing Yoruichi back. Normally Sui-Feng would be elated by this, normally it would mean progress, but it meant nothing with this game. She had to get around Yoruichi, get behind her to seize the sash._

_She concentrated on her footwork and tried to kick out Yoruichi-Sama's legs from under her. Or to step around her, but Yoruichi-Sama met each attack with her own kick and stepped to block each attempt to pass her. It was as if she instinctively knew what Sui-Feng was planning on doing._

"_What are you looking at my feet for?" Yoruichi-Sama barked. "Keep your eyes on mine."_

_Sui-Feng's eyes snapped back up to meet those golden orbs that were somehow both hard and soft at the same time._

"_You shouldn't need to look at my feet to know what they're doing."_

"_Right!" Sui-Feng nodded sharply._

"_Don't answer, I didn't ask you a question."_

_Sui-Feng found herself cringing at her mistake. The slight distraction nearly cost Sui-Feng the match right then and there. Yoruichi-Sama's elbow snapped up towards Sui-Feng's face and the girl just barely managed to block it before it hit home. She staggered back, rocked by the force of the blow. Yoruichi-Sama didn't give her time to recover pressing forward with swift and furious open handed blows._

_Sui-Feng could barely keep up. Her forearms ached from blocking Yoruichi-Sama's attacks and she tripped and stumbled over her own feet in her attempt to back away, just barely keeping her balance. _

_It took her a while, and Yoruichi-Sama had nearly forced her back to the tree line, but eventually she noticed the flaw in Yoruichi-Sama's style._

Impossible! _Her mind protested. Yoruichi-Sama never made mistakes and she certainly wouldn't use a flawed fighting style. And yet Sui-Feng could see it, Yoruichi-Sama over extended herself on every third strike and swung a fraction too wide on every fifth strike._

_Sui-Feng didn't want to take advantage of it, it would mean acknowledging that there was a fault to Yoruichi-Sama's style. Sui-Feng was unsure what to do – she couldn't possibly point out a mistake of Yoruichi-Sama's, and yet there was no way she could steal the sash without doing so._

_She had to take the risk and hope that Yoruichi-Sama wouldn't think her impudent for it. She counted the strikes in her head, missed the first opening offered, but caught it the next time it came around. As Yoruichi-Sama's hand struck out on the third strike Sui-Feng blocked it with her left forearm. Stepping outside the line of attack, Sui-Feng pivoted on her foot and spun round. It was a quick, fluid and singular movement, allowing Sui-Feng to slide up Yoruichi-Sama's extended arm and past her. The yellow sash was fluttering behind Yoruichi-Sama. Sui-Feng's right hand snatched out for the sash, it was there just in front of her, mere inches from her grasp._

_The world lurched and the sash flickered out of sight. Sui-Feng was spun hopelessly off course by some unseen force. She had felt the barest amount of pressure on her elbow; the slightest twinge in her knee as though she had brushed past foliage or something equally as light and irksome, and yet she had been flung violently from Yoruichi-Sama's body. She skidded away and was down on one knee when she came to a stop. Yoruichi-Sama was standing several feet away looking down on her and Sui-Feng felt suddenly ashamed, though she couldn't quite pinpoint the reasons why._

"_You became overconfident and left yourself open for a counter attack," Yoruichi-Sama explained. "Why didn't you use shunpo? If you had then you probably would have stolen the sash."_

_Sui-Feng's head hung that little bit lower. She hadn't even considered using Shunpo, she had been too afraid since that would mean that Yoruichi-Sama would be allowed to use it, and then there'd be no hope of Sui-Feng winning. A shaky breath escaped her lips and she gripped the fabric of her pants tightly, frustration boiling in her as she played over her mistakes in her head. _

Foolish! _She berated herself. She pushed herself to her feet and locked her eyes on Yoruichi-Sama, trying not to let the aggravation she felt at herself show. Yoruichi-Sama was back in her stance, though she held it loosely now and seemed to be distracted. Her head was tilted slightly to the side as though she was listening to something that was barely audible. Shunpo, Sui-Feng decided, was her best option. Now, while Yoruichi-Sama was distracted, she would go in a single step as fast as she could and snatch the sash. _

_Her leg tensed in preparation, her eyes mapping the step out and judging where she'd stand afterwards. _

_She took a breath and stepped._

_Yoruichi-Sama's right hand snapped round from her back like a striking snake and bit hard into the upper-right of Sui-Feng's chest, just below her clavicle. It felt as though her whole chest had been crushed beneath the force of the blow. She was thrown backwards, falling hard on her back and shoulders, rolling in an effort to minimize the impact. She tumbled over. Once, twice and nearly a third time before she skidded to a stop, landing in a wheezing crumpled heap. She clutched her right arm up to her chest with her left, holding on to herself tightly as she desperately tried to drag air into her compressed lungs._

_Raising her head and with tears stinging her eyes, Sui-Feng looked up to Yoruichi-Sama. She hadn't moved at all from her previous position with her right arm outstretched in front of her, two fingers pointed from her hand. That's all it had taken to defeat Sui-Feng; two fingers. It would have been depressing if it had not been Yoruichi-Sama who had defeated her._

_Yoruichi-Sama dropped her hand to her side and relaxed her pose. _

"_Yeesh!" She flung her head back with an exasperated sigh. "What were you thinking attacking head on like that? I didn't realise that we were practising kamikaze dives."_

_Sui-Feng hung her head again and let the shame wash over her. She only took the brief moment to let it sink in before she once again raised her head to await further reprimands for her poor performance. She had failed, and rather miserably too._

_Folding her arms across her chest, Yoruichi-Sama stood on one foot and considered her student. Her head tipped to the side and Sui-Feng couldn't tell if she was disappointed or not, though she probably was and rightly so too._

"_Get up," Yoruichi-Sama said finally. She didn't sound disappointed or angry, but then she didn't sound happy either. "Can you get up?"_

"_Yes Yoruichi-Sama," Sui-Feng pushed herself to her feet, wincing as pain echoed through her chest. Her right shoulder was already starting to seize up, not a good sign._

"_Can't say that went exactly as planned," Yoruichi-Sama continued speaking as she removed the sash with a flick of her wrist. She hung it loosely around her neck, grasping both ends with her hands and almost seemed to pout as a thoughtful look crossed her face. "Not that it really matters."_

_For some reason that made Sui-Feng feel even worse about the whole situation and she stared down at the ground. She felt utterly miserable at her failure. It wasn't just that she had failed to steal the sash, but also that she had clearly failed to even make a proper effort at it. She had let down Yoruichi-Sama and that felt worse than any injury ever could._

"_We're done for the night," Yoruichi-Sama informed her. "Collect your zanpakuto and make sure that you visit the Fourth Division. You should get your shoulder checked out; you're no use if you're injured."_

"_Of course, Yoruichi-Sama," Sui-Feng ducked her head quickly in acknowledgment and turned to collect Suzumebachi from where she was sat watching the whole exchange. _

/\/\/\

Sui-Feng slowly opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling of her office. She was leaning back in her chair; her left leg propped up on her desk, her right was dangling down and barely reaching the floor and her head was craned so far back that it was nearly hooked over the back of her seat. She'd long ago concluded that in all likelihood she'd probably give herself a stiff neck. Her thoughts were distracted by the rough rub of paper against the bridge of her nose and forehead, the wings of the origami bird she had balanced there earlier cut into the edge of her vision.

Heaving a sigh, she snatched up the bird and sent it flying across the office. It flew straight and true at first, arcing through the air. And then, once it had reached the peak of its flight, it dipped and spiralled out of control, crashing down onto the unforgiving floor in a disappointing anticlimax.

Somehow it felt very fitting.

She didn't know why she had been staring up at the ceiling; it wasn't as if it held the answers to her problems. It was blank, a dull off-white that was completely uninteresting.

Again, it felt very fitting.

The thought depressed her. She straightened up in her chair – it wouldn't do for the _Gundanchou _to be seen slouching – and placed her feet securely on the hardwood floor where she could feel the heat seeping through the boards. Omaeda had few uses in life, but his need to exhibit his extravagant wealth was arguably one. He didn't even seem to notice that Sui-Feng regularly took advantage of it; heated floors, new equipment, a refurbished kitchen headed by a top class chef. She had used him to obtain it all. She didn't even think of it as exploitation, instead she figured that she was doing the man a favour.

She glanced round her office. Despite using Omaeda's wealth to renovate the Second Division compound, her own office remained quite bare in decoration. The walls, like the ceiling, were an off-white that screamed its neutrality, there were only two decorations carefully pinned up: a scroll with a haiku and a very badly painted landscape of a sakura grove that had been a gift from someone or other that she had been put up simply because there was a space. She had a mahogany book shelf that was neatly stacked with books on various topics, and that she never read. Anyone could tell that she never touched the books; they were all in mint condition and were tightly packed in leaving no space between them.

The only piece of decoration that gave away that someone with a modicum of a personality worked here was the small black cat plushie that was sat on the corner of her desk. She always left it out in the open, apart from the fact that it was her favourite and occasionally she liked to hug it (strictly when she was on her own), it also served as a great distraction for anyone she had in the office. There was something oddly hilarious about watching the gaze of a visitor rest on the cat and then fumble on their words as they tried to answer her harshly spoken questions. It just seemed to throw them all for a loop and it left them wide open for her to bully.

Her eyes swept from the plushie and landed on the origami bird, it was lying on its side across the room.

It had been a whole day since Sui-Feng had last seen and spoken to Yoruichi. She wasn't sure what to think about what had transpired between them. She had laid awake most the night thinking over what had happened and trying to figure out what had gone wrong - what _she_ had done wrong - since it was no doubt her fault. She had so far been unable to determine exactly what it was that she had done.

They had been playing, and it was a fairly normal game for them too. They often played tag; it was one of Yoruichi's favourite games after all, so Sui-Feng was fairly certain that the choice of game wasn't the problem. The game had been short though, Sui-Feng conceded. It wasn't that unusual for her to chase Yoruichi for upwards of an hour, but yesterday the game had lasted only minutes.

_Stupid! _Sui-Feng rubbed at her eyes. Just because she had caught Yoruichi didn't mean that game was over. They should have continued. Yoruichi should have chased her. The concept of Yoruichi chasing her was all wrong, no matter the context of the thought and it made Sui-Feng sigh loudly.

Was she supposed to have gone after Yoruichi? She didn't know, no one had ever taught what the proper protocol was for a situation like this. This was clearly one of those things she should have learned years ago as an adolescent, when trial and error was an acceptable method of acquiring information.

Standing, she shuffled from behind her desk and towards the paper bird that lay prostrate on the ground. It looked very sad lying there all alone. She stooped and snatched it from the ground, holding it delicately between her fingers as she inspected it. The left wing was bent, crumpled beneath the weight of its body.

Another sigh escaped Sui-Feng's lips and she hid the bird away in one of her many pockets.

"Typical."

/\/\/\

It had started snowing again; lightly, almost lazily, and Sui-Feng resented the weather for giving up on its earlier effort in burying Seireitei. She walked atop the snow, resisting the urge to trudge through it. She found a certain guilty pleasure in stepping into fresh snow. She liked the sound of it crunching beneath her feet. It gave her a childlike delight that she had not felt in years, and sometimes in the darkest corners of her mind worried that she would never feel again.

She could not risk her _hakama _becoming wet though, and so she felt the light pulse of her own _reiatsu_ beneath her feet keeping her from leaving even the smallest imprint behind. The Shihouin estate was located behind the Second Division and Onmitsukido compound, and was only a short walk. She could have used Shunpo and arrived in a single step, but the brief stroll gave her time to figure out exactly what she was going to say.

Or it would have if she had the faintest idea of where to begin.

She didn't even know what she had done wrong.

Like the rest of Seireitei, the Shihouin estate was covered in a thick blanket of snow. Thankfully, a servant had sensibly dug out the path and Sui-Feng stepped onto it, her feet and _hakama _dry and devoid of any trace of the snow. It annoyed her that she hadn't set some of her men digging out the paths of the Second Division compound and she made a mental note to do just that first thing tomorrow.

She was slightly surprised to find someone standing outside of the main building, apparently waiting for her.

"You're late," the figure spoke, her voice high but laden with definite signs of great age.

Sui-Feng chose not to answer that rather odd statement. The woman waiting for her was Nakazawa Saeko, the head servant of the Shihouin's household. She was small, shorter than Sui-Feng, and wrinkled like a dried up prune. Her grey hair was pulled back into a tight bun that sat neatly at the crown of her head. It stretched back the wrinkled skin of her forehead and pulled the loose folds of skin by her eyes back as well. The tightly pinched skin looked odd compared to the wrinkled and saggy flesh of her cheeks and chin.

"We expected you last night, or at the very least this morning." She continued in a disapproving tone.

Sui-Feng frowned at her words but again chose not to speak.

Saeko tutted in annoyance, her mouth pinched as her clouding eyes scanned over Sui-Feng. "Come on, you're letting the cold in."

Sui-Feng followed after her as she shuffled in through the main door. She could feel Saeko watching her carefully as she removed her shoes and set them to the side, only to see them whisked away by another, much younger, servant.

She didn't like coming to the Shihouin estate, and liked coming to the main building even less. Despite the number of years that Sui-Feng had served as the taicho of the Second Division, and the freedoms this allocated her, she was never exactly sure how she should act when she was here. Obedience and reverence for the Shihouin's had been drilled into her as a child and they were lessons she found difficult to forgo; her initial reaction when stepping inside this building was to drop to her knees and wait for someone to tell her to rise. But that wouldn't be fitting for the commander of the Onmitsukido or for a captain of the Gotei 13. So she forced her knees to remain locked and resisted the urge to sink to the floor.

"Quickly now," Saeko turned and waddled away down a long corridor, and Sui-Feng had no choice but to follow.

Another thing that made Sui-Feng's infrequent visits here unpleasant was the head servant and her borderline hostile behaviour. She had an air of arrogance about her that was only afforded with age. Sui-Feng knew that when the old woman looked at her she didn't see the _haori_, she didn't see the titles, the accolades or even feel the pulse of suppressed power that emanated from Sui-Feng's entire being. All she saw was the wide-eyed girl that had followed behind Yoruichi-Sama all those years ago and who had been so eager to please.

And for reasons that Sui-Feng couldn't quite fathom, she let the woman see her like this. She could have quite easily demanded that the servant call her by her title and have her bow her head when she addressed her, it was well within her rights to do so. And Sui-Feng would have made this demand of anyone else. She had worked hard for her position, she had earned it and she deserved to be treated with the respect it afforded her.

The old servant was too set in her ways, and although Sui-Feng didn't like the woman she wasn't too sure she saw any need to burst her bubble and drag her out of her senile reverie. Or at least that was the excuse Sui-Feng told herself this time.

They turned a corner; the main building was like an elaborately decorated maze and anyone who wasn't used to it could quite easily become lost. Saeko shuffled ahead on short legs that had become stunted with age.

"She's been out in the garden all day," She said suddenly not bothering to look back. She may as well have been speaking to herself for the nonchalant tone she used. "Right after breakfast, straight out and has refused to come back in."

"Hmm," Sui-Feng wasn't really sure what to say to that. It was easier to acknowledge that she had at least heard the woman.

Saeko stopped and turned round, fixing her clouded eyes on Sui-Feng. "Did you have a fight?"

"No!" The denial burst from Sui-Feng's lips before she could think of a proper reply. She cringed. Her voice had been high and outraged making her sound childish. "That is," She cleared her throat. "We didn't have a fight."

Saeko gave her a sceptical look. "I see," she turned and started walking again. "This way. She is in the private garden."

Sui-Feng exhaled and followed after the servant again. She actually knew the way to the gardens herself, but it wouldn't be proper for her to go wandering through the Shihouin house without a servant escorting her.

They eventually arrived at the door that led to the small garden that was meant only for the head of the Shihouin house. Sui-Feng felt that it had taken an unnecessary amount of time to get here, she had been forced to walk slowly to match Saeko's hobbled gait. Stopping, the old servant turned to fix her milky gaze on Sui-Feng.

Behind her, Sui-Feng heard a panel slide open. She didn't bother turning round, she knew already that it would be the same girl who had taken her shoes away when she had first arrived. Sui-Feng took her shoes from the girl, who obediently stepped back but did not leave. Her shoes back in place on her feet, Sui-Feng squared back her right shoulder (some days she forgot to use her left) and reached out for the _shoji_.

"Are you here on official business?" Saeko enquired.

"Excuse me?" Sui-Feng didn't turn her head to look at the woman.

"You're wearing you're _haori_," Her voice sounded almost pleasant, possibly amused, and it annoyed Sui-Feng more than she really wanted to admit.

Letting out a breath, Sui-Feng pulled on her _obi, _loosening it, and then she slipped both it and her _haori_ off. She thrust them both into Saeko's hands, a rigid smile fixed on her face. She managed to make one whole step towards the door and towards Yoruichi before she was halted once more, this time by a firm tug on the empty sleeve of her _kosode_. She gritted her teeth and whirled round, her hand going to the loose sleeve and snatching it from Saeko's withered grip. The servant had the audacity to tut at her.

Whatever rebuke that the servant had been planning on saying died in her mouth. Her eyes widened and her jaw hung slack. She staggered back, her hand going to her chest. Sui-Feng felt it, the air felt _heavy. _The young servant that had fetched her shoes knees buckled and her breathing became laboured. Slowly, ever so slowly, Sui-Feng reined back her reiatsu. She refused to look at either of the servants as they struggled to regain their composure. She hadn't really meant to do that. She didn't like losing control.

"Right... well," Saeko mumbled slightly. "We'll leave you to it, _taicho_." She bowed and shuffled back.

Determined not to look even more foolish, Sui-Feng gritted her teeth and opened the door, stepping out into the cold air. She half expected Yoruichi to be waiting for her on the other side, she would know that Sui-Feng was here. How could she not, after the burst of reiatsu Sui-Feng had just blasted out? Half of Seireitei would know that she was here. She was greeted by empty air though.

Behind her the door slid shut. Sui-Feng let out a breath, squaring back her shoulders and preparing to meet Yoruichi and apologise for whatever it was she did wrong. And also possibly for nearly crippling her servants.

"Five hundred kan says she stays the night," said a muffled voice from behind the closed door.

Sui-Feng's shoulders slumped. And here she was thinking that she and Yoruichi were being discreet. Shaking her head, she made her way down the stone path. The flagstones beneath her feet were worn smooth by the thousands of years that heads of the Shihouin family had walked upon them. Really, it was an honour to even be allowed into this garden. It was small, the smallest on the Shihouin estate and located in the very centre of the main building, but it was easily the most beautiful. Only those most trusted and respected by the clan chief were allowed to enter this garden.

It was a little bit difficult to afford the place the respect it deserved when you had been naked and completely without your composure within its walls. Sui-Feng felt her cheeks heat up at that thought and she ducked her head, staring rather intently at her own feet. It was here that she realised something that she probably should have noticed the moment she stepped outside; there was no snow.

Her head snapped up and she looked around the surrounding area. There wasn't a single trace of white anywhere to be seen. Sui-Feng almost laughed, she knew that Yoruichi disliked the snow but she had no idea that it was to such an extent that she'd have her garden cleared of it. The garden looked bare, almost desolate, without it. The flower beds were empty except for the odd shrub that looked less than thrilled by the cold weather, the paths were clear but without the bright colours of the flowers to contrast against, they blended into all the other dull colours. Worst of all was the lone tree that overlooked the small pond. Its branches were pale silver and luminous against the inky sky, they stretched outwards, the brittle twigs like skeletal hands reaching, reaching...

She clutched at the ruined remains of her left arm. It was childish, but the sight evoked an irrational thrill of fear within her. She turned her gaze away from the tree and set about trying to find Yoruichi in the garden.

There was a certain excitement to not knowing where Yoruichi was, and as Sui-Feng slowly manoeuvred round the small garden, she felt goose pimples ripple up her arms and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She couldn't sense Yoruichi at all, not even the faintest whisper of her reiatsu hung on the air. She eyed every bush, every plant or low wall, knowing that a small cat could easily be concealed behind any of them. Sui-Feng honestly expected Yoruichi to some leaping out of one of the bushes at any moment and her muscles tensed in preparation for Yoruichi's 'attack'.

After she had made her third circuit of the small garden though, Sui-Feng started to suspect that Yoruichi wasn't actually out here at all and that the servants were playing a rather foolish joke on her.

"Yoruichi-Sama?" Sui-Feng called out, keeping her voice at a respectable level. There was no reply. Not that she had actually expected to receive one, but it was worth a try.

If only to keep her hand busy, Sui-Feng reached inside her pocket and retrieved the small origami bird she had hidden away earlier. It was looking slightly worse for wear, distinctly flatter than before and slightly wrinkled around the edges. She held it carefully, not wanting to cause more damage to its frail body. It had taken her a painfully long time to make the stupid thing and that made her hesitant to destroy it.

"Is that for me?"

Sui-Feng jumped and nearly dropped the paper bird. She looked up, Yoruichi was in her feline form and draped across one of the branches of the tree, her tail flicking lazily in the air behind her.

"It can be," Sui-Feng answered. "If you would like it."

Yoruichi didn't reply. She stood up and stretched, her four legs rigid and her back curved in a neat arch as tremors ran up her small body.

Sui-Feng gently placed the bird down on a smooth stone set at the base of the tree and then backed off. She felt a bit like she was making an offering to a god. The thought brought a small smile to her face. It was surely better to appease the god with a sacrifice than to be the one laid out over the altar waiting to have your own heart cut out. She was surprised to find that this thought made her want to laugh.

Yoruichi had climbed down from the tree and was now inspecting the bird, she occasionally knocked it with her paw and her head was lowered so close that her nose brushed against it.

"The wing is bent," She said finally, the faintest trace of disappointment evident in her voice.

"Yes," Sui-Feng agreed. "Its first flight didn't go too well."

Yoruichi made a small amused noise. "Perhaps it tried to fly too early."

"Perhaps it didn't have a choice. Perhaps circumstance forced it to fly early."

Yoruichi went very still, she was staring at the bird and Sui-Feng suddenly wanted very badly to recall her words.

"Perhaps," Yoruichi said her voice quiet. She sat down and cradled the bird with her paw and manoeuvred it so that it was closer to her. "So... To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Sui-Feng squared her right shoulder back, felt the tight pull of an old scar as she did so, and thought on what she would say. She was frustrated to find that she didn't have a clue where to start.

"I wanted to apologise," She said, opting to get straight to the point, even if she wasn't entirely sure what the point was. She decided that it would be nice if Yoruichi were to explain exactly what she had done wrong. This way she could avoid from making the same mistake in the future.

Yoruichi seemed surprised. "Apologise? For what?"

Excellent question, it was a shame that Sui-Feng didn't know the answer. "I... uh..." Sui-Feng faltered. "I'm not too sure."

Yoruichi laughed. She sounded absolutely delighted by Sui-Feng's predicament. "You don't even know what you're apologising for?"

Sui-Feng felt a faint blush on her cheeks and she turned her head, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout. "It's just that... Yesterday," Sui-Feng said, faltering and unsure how to continue. She had always found it difficult to verbalise her thoughts around Yoruichi, and at this precise moment she was finding it more frustrating than she ever had before.

"Yesterday?" Yoruichi said slowly. It was almost as if she picked up on Sui-Feng's distress since she decided to change the subject. "Are you hungry? I can have the servants prepare something."

Sui-Feng looked up at the dark sky. "It's fairly late."

"So? Do you have somewhere to be?" Yoruichi stood up and padded across to Sui-Feng. "Come on, you can stay the night. Unless of course..." Yoruichi paused thoughtfully, or possibly merely for dramatic effect. "... You don't want to." Her voice rose at the end of the sentence, the slightest inflection that made it sound like a question. Sui-Feng knew though that it wasn't a question. There was a certain amount of smug confidence to Yoruichi's tone - she just knew that Sui-Feng would never turn down anything she asked.

Sui-Feng sighed. For some reason she felt like she'd just been defeated, which was absurd since they were just speaking to one another. It wasn't as though _this _was a game or a contest, or anything other than a simple conversation.

"Of course," She replied amiably. She felt unusually amused by the knowledge that she had just won the young servant five hundred Kan. Although she doubted that Saeko would pay up.

"Sui-Feng," Yoruichi said, looking back over her shoulder. "Would you carry the origami bird for me?"

"Yes, Yoruichi-Sama," Sui-Feng said. Quickly crossing to the tree, she picked up the paper bird and then turned and followed Yoruichi up the narrow path and back to the house. The shoji slid open as soon as Yoruichi approached, and both she and Sui-Feng slipped inside.

The interior of the Shihouin manse felt stiflingly hot in contrast to the cold air outside. Sui-Feng hadn't even noticed that she had been cold, she had been too preoccupied with looking for Yoruichi but now that she was back inside she shivered slightly, trying to shake off the chill that had set into her.

She followed Yoruichi up the long corridors, the paper bird still held carefully in her hand. Yoruichi moved an awful lot quicker than the servants and Sui-Feng had to quicken her pace to keep up. Yoruichi stopped at a closed shoji and turned in a circle, meowing loudly. Sui-Feng rolled her eyes and opened the sliding door for Yoruichi, who bounded enthusiastically into the room with Sui-Feng trailing behind. Sui-Feng turned and closed the shoji quickly, ensuring that none of the servants would even attempt to follow them in.

The slightest shift in the air let Sui-Feng know that Yoruichi was changing into her human form, so she kept her back politely turned and pretended to be very interested in the shoji.

"Okay, I'm decent. You can turn around now," Yoruichi said in a distinctly more feminine voice.

Sui-Feng turned to face Yoruichi, only to snap her head to the side and away from the woman. Yoruichi had pulled on a _yukata_ but had neglected to tie it. It hung open at the front and just barely covered her breasts and left everything else on full display. Sui-Feng actually found it more distracting than if Yoruichi had been standing completely naked. Now her mind was busy conjuring up images where she slowly, so very slowly pushed the silk fabric back, sliding it off of Yoruichi's shoulders and-

"That's not decent!" Sui-Feng exclaimed, interrupting her own lecherous thoughts.

"I'm covered," Yoruichi reasoned.

"No, you're not," Sui-Feng kept her head resolutely turned, refusing to lose at this particular game with Yoruichi.

Yoruichi laughed. "Honestly Sui-Feng, it's not like it's nothing you haven't seen before."

"That's not the point," Sui-Feng shot back, turning to face Yoruichi. She stayed by the door though, her back nearly against it and resolutely refusing to let her gaze wander down Yoruichi's exquisite body.

"Are you going to stay over there" Yoruichi asked.

"No."

"Do we have to go through this every time you stay over?" Yoruichi's tone was light, teasing even, but Sui-Feng thought that she could detect something else there. She almost sounded exasperated and a little weary.

Sui-Feng concluded that Yoruichi had grown bored of this particular game; so she straightened up and moved away from the door, stepping from the hard wood floors and onto the _tatami_. She had forgotten to take off her shoes and she hoped that Yoruichi wouldn't look down and notice her mistake. Although, when Sui-Feng thought about it, Yoruichi probably wouldn't even care.

"That's better," Yoruichi said, smiling softly. "An apology then?"

Sui-Feng nodded.

"Even though you don't actually know if you've done something wrong."

"I feel as though I've done something wrong," Sui-Feng explained. Now that she thought about it though, she wasn't entirely sure that was true. Had she erred? She felt more aggravated than anything else at this precise moment. Yoruichi was looking at her with amused and questioning eyes, which only served to make Sui-Feng feel even more annoyed. She felt as though they were playing another game, only she didn't know the rules. All she knew was that she was clearly losing. But that was to be expected, wasn't it? Yoruichi always won.

Except that wasn't entirely true either.

Sui-Feng turned her head and cleared her throat. It felt oddly dry and tight all of a sudden. "I... uh..."

"Are you alright?"

Sui-Feng's reply caught in her throat along with her breath. Yoruichi was standing right in front of her. Sui-Feng kept her head turned away from Yoruichi and her mouth clamped shut. Mentally she cursed Yoruichi and her speed; she had crossed the room too quickly for Sui-Feng to even notice that she had moved at all. And now Yoruichi was so close that Sui-Feng could feel the warmth of her body. That wasn't surprising. The woman seemed to naturally run a higher body temperature than anyone else Sui-Feng had ever known, she always felt ludicrously warm.

Sui-Feng felt a lone finger run across the curve of her jaw line to the point of her shin, turning her head and tilting it back so that she was looking up at Yoruichi. She looked concerned and Sui-Feng felt guilty for causing it. Yoruichi wasn't really that much taller than Sui-Feng, but when she stood this close and looked down on her, Sui-Feng felt as though their difference in height was immense.

The concern in Yoruichi's eyes shifted into something all together more playful. Her brow arched and a slanted smirk curved up her features. It was a familiar look and all of a sudden Sui-Feng felt as though she was a child once more and she was afraid to move in case she stumbled or to speak because she'd surely stutter. She could feel Yoruichi pressing in closer, their bodies nearly touching now.

"If you're so insistent on apologising," Yoruichi's voice was low, husky and unbelievable suggestive, and Sui-Feng actually shivered to hear it. "Then I can think of several ways you can make it up to me."

Sui-Feng could feel the warmth of Yoruichi's breath on her face, the heat of her body so close to hers and the gentle caress of her reiatsu lap at her senses. Her eyes flickered down to Yoruichi's lips and she swallowed. It was difficult to think or even breathe when Yoruichi was this close. The urge to close the small gap between them and kiss Yoruichi was damn near overpowering. She felt as though she was swimming against the current or being gently crushed beneath the weight of her reiatsu.

Her eyes slid to the right and to the far side of the room and to the painted panel there. She could feel a presence there, someone was behind the panel. Yoruichi had gone still. Her eyes flicked over to the panel and then back to Sui-Feng's.

"You worry too much what people will think," she murmured.

"You don't worry enough."

It took a moment for Sui-Feng's words to have an effect. It wasn't what she had said but the tone in which she had spoken and the implications of her words struck Yoruichi. The teasing look dropped from her face and her brows knitted together.

"Huh," she stepped back from Sui-Feng, frowning and looking a little uncertain.

Sui-Feng felt as though she had just been released from a binding kido. Every muscle in her body relaxed at once and she had to lock her knees to stop herself from sinking to the floor. Sometimes she forgot just what an extreme effect Yoruichi could have on her. She raised her head and looked to the older woman. Yoruichi had increased the distance between them and was preoccupied with cinching her _yukata _together. Her eyes were fixed pointedly away from Sui-Feng and she suspected that Yoruichi was intentionally avoiding eye contact.

Sui-Feng squared back her right shoulder, her left stayed put and her stump hung there uselessly. She fully intended on apologising and then leaving before she made an even bigger fool of herself.

"Yoruichi-Sama, I – "

"Don't." Yoruichi cut her off, her voice sharp. "Just... don't. You don't have to apologise to me, you haven't done anything wrong."

While that was good to hear, it only left Sui-Feng feeling more confused than ever. And Yoruichi was still refusing to meet her eyes. She had tied the _yukata_ securely and was now standing with her arms crossed loosely across her mid-section. She was still frowning and her lips were pressed tight into a thin line.

"If I didn't do anything wrong then why did you run off yesterday?"

Yoruichi remained still. She seemed to be thinking on Sui-Feng's question, no doubt trying to formulate an appropriate answer. Sui-Feng waited while Yoruichi mulled over her words. Patience had never been her strong suit and Sui-Feng found herself becoming increasingly agitated with each passing second.

Finally, Yoruichi shrugged. "The game was over. You won."

Sui-Feng stared at her. That was it? That was her answer? For Yoruichi it was as simple as 'the game was over' and so she just went home? Something about that just didn't ring true in Sui-Feng's head at all.

"No," She said, shaking her head. "The game was not over. I caught you but-"

"Should have said: tag, you're it!" Yoruichi cheerfully told her. Her good humour sounded forced to Sui-Feng.

"What?" It was becoming difficult for Sui-Feng to keep her voice level.

"You won," Yoruichi repeated. "I don't see what's so difficult to understand about that."

"But... but..." Sui-Feng wasn't sure how to continue. Yoruichi's reasoning seemed preposterous to her. Yoruichi was looking just past Sui-Feng's head, still refusing to meet her eye. It was a strange behaviour for the Goddess, and Sui-Feng had never known her to act like this before.

And then a whole new thought occurred to Sui-Feng. "You lost."

Yoruichi looked at her now. "Well yes, I think that was implied when I said that you won."

"_You _lost."

"I know," Now Yoruichi sounded annoyed. "There's no need to gloat."

It couldn't possibly be that simple, could it? Yoruichi still stood in front of her, her arms crossed loosely and leaning heavily on her left leg. Her brow was creased and her bottom lip stuck out in what on anyone else Sui-Feng would have called a pout. She almost looked child-like, and Sui-Feng was torn between finding it endearing and completely disturbing.

Yoruichi sighed. She flicked a hand through her hair and made a face like there was an unpleasant smell in the room, before her expression became carefully blank. "I don't like losing," She reluctantly admitted. "But then you already knew that."

Except that Sui-Feng hadn't known that. It made sense, what with the way that Yoruichi was acting. But the thought had never crossed Sui-Feng's mind. She hadn't known that Yoruichi disliked losing so much simply because she had never known Yoruichi to lose. Yoruichi always won.

Sui-Feng frowned. "It was only one game."

"Tch!" Yoruichi rolled her eyes in a slightly over-dramatic gesture, and Sui-Feng got the distinct impression that losing that one game had ruined tag for Yoruichi. That bothered Sui-Feng, she liked playing tag with Yoruichi and she definitely didn't want to stop.

There was a question that part of Sui-Feng desperately wanted to ask but knew that she shouldn't. It was lodged at the back of her mind and was burning there. She shouldn't ask it, she wouldn't like the answer, but she felt compelled by some other worldly force. It _had_ to be asked.

"Yoruichi-Sama?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it only that you lost," Sui-Feng said carefully, trying to keep her aggravation from her tone. "Or is it that I won?"

She really wished she hadn't asked it. She had her answer just from Yoruichi's expression, or lack of expression as the case may be. There was nothing to read on Yoruichi's face, it was like trying to read a mask, she was an empty canvas. Yoruichi's expression betrayed none of her thoughts and that was how Sui-Feng knew she was right.

"I always win Sui-Feng," Yoruichi said, her voice flat. She turned to face Sui-Feng, her face still devoid of emotion. They both stared at each other, eyes locked, silver on gold. And then Yoruichi tossed her head back and that arrogant, self-assured near-sneer that Sui-Feng was so used to curved its way up her face, replacing her mask with something all together more human and tarnishing for the briefest moment her beauty. "Always against you. That's just the way it is."

Sui-Feng didn't react. Not at first. She needed time to process what Yoruichi was saying. She stood still, her face completely blank, a mirror of Yoruichi's earlier expression. She didn't feel anything. Which was surprising, Sui-Feng had never been good at controlling her emotions or her expression. She had never mastered the art of an expressionless face, certainly not in the same way that Yoruichi had. Instead she channelled everything she had into maintaining a sadistic smirk, and even then she found that difficult to keep up.

With Yoruichi she found it even more difficult to keep control of her emotions. A single word or action from the Goddess could, and would, cause Sui-Feng to lose her tenuous grip on control and send her reeling through emotional extremes. Which was why, in the very back of her mind, Sui-Feng was so surprised by her lack of reaction.

"I see," She said eventually, slowly and her voice was like ice.

And she did see; she saw that stupid game for what it really was: a way for Yoruichi to stroke her over-inflated ego. A means to keep Sui-Feng in her place. Yoruichi had never expected Sui-Feng to win simply because Sui-Feng was never meant to win.

"Always you in front and me behind," Sui-Feng continued. She could feel the anger now, burning in the pit of her stomach. Her whole body quivered with it. Her hand slowly curled into a fist, crushing the origami bird. The sharp corners of the paper cut into the flesh of her palm and she dropped the crumpled bird to the floor. "You never thought I would win because you didn't think I was capable of ever beating you."

Yoruichi's eyes widened and the smirk dropped from her face. "No, that's not what I –"

"This is just so typical of you."

"Sui-Feng," Yoruichi said. She was frowning in what looked like worry or possibly even the beginnings of fear, and Sui-Feng was almost fooled by it. Almost.

Her lip curled and she turned away from Yoruichi, not wanting to look at her right now. Anything else she said now would only be wasted words, so she opted instead to leave.

"Sui-Feng."

She ignored Yoruichi and opened the shoji, stepping out into the thankfully empty corridor. She wondered if Yoruichi would order her to stay, she almost wished that she would so that she could ignore the command. The thought was immediately followed by the bubble-bursting knowledge that if Yoruichi were to command her to stay then she would in all likelihood acquiesce to her command. The thought only served to fuel her anger, and she increased her speed as she walked away from Yoruichi, ignoring her as she called out to her.

* * *

**Fuckin' finally! To say that this was a struggle to write would be an understatement. Reviews are wanted and appreciated. **

**One more chapter to go!**


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